Afternoon of socializing

Chamber event encourages women to discover inner artist

By Tim Colliver - tcolliver@aimmediamidwest.com

A Paint & Sip event with the Highland County Chamber of Commerce will be led by Letty Allen, owner of Field of Dreams. An artist in her own right, examples of her works hang on the wall at her shop in New Vienna.

Tim Colliver | The Times-Gazette

The Highland County Chamber of Commerce is giving women a chance to take a break from the work day and join other women for an afternoon of socializing and art with instructor Letty Allen, owner of Field of Dreams in New Vienna.

The event is scheduled for Oct. 17 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. at the barn of Dianna Robertson-Fordyce, located at 10214 Jones Road, Hillsboro.

“It’s a day of enjoyment for women in business,” Allen told The Times-Gazette. “The Chamber of Commerce set up this luncheon so they can take a break from work and have lunch, and then experience the fun of creating a piece of art through painting.”

This is Allen’s third year of being involved with what’s called “Paint and Sip,” where local business women can tap their inner artistic ability and enjoy a catered lunch, too.

“After we have lunch, everyone has some instruction on painting on the canvas,” she said. “And everyone gets to do their own individual painting, and it’s a really nice way to for them to relax, get into their own little world and be creative.”

Allen’s role is to guide her class of budding artists in the creation of a fall painting, but she said the whole objective is to provide an atmosphere where women can put down the phone and enjoy one another’s company and time together, while at the same time enjoying the experience of designing a unique piece of art with their own hands and imagination.

“On one hand these women enjoy what starts out to be something therapeutic,” she said. “But then I hear from them six months to a year later and they tell me it was so relaxing and fun that they’ve taken up painting as a new hobby.”

The women who registered for the chamber event will receive a complete art class, with Allen leading the class in sketching their designs on canvas, taking them step by step through the process, and then walking around the room, looking over their shoulders and offering help and suggestions as needed.

An accomplished artist, Allen said it’s interesting to watch the creations emerge from women who at first claimed “they couldn’t draw a straight line with a ruler,” but then seeing individual styles come to life on the canvas.

“Everyone has their own unique style,” she said. “It’s fun to see each different style as their individual personality starts to come out in the painting… soft pastels with a serene feel is usually a woman who is very soft spoken, while a painting with bold strokes and deep colors is usually done by the ‘take charge’ extroverts, and then you have your perfectionists and free spirits, and you never know what you’re going to see with those ladies.”

Allen is owner of Field of Dreams on Mad River Road just outside of New Vienna, and has nearly 30 years’ experience in custom picture framing, commercial and residential interior design and ‘paint-n-parties’ like the chamber of commerce event.

Her shop is open by appointment by calling 937-728-5632 or on-line at frameyourdreams@ aol.com.

Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571

A Paint & Sip event with the Highland County Chamber of Commerce will be led by Letty Allen, owner of Field of Dreams. An artist in her own right, examples of her works hang on the wall at her shop in New Vienna.

https://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2018/10/web1_Letty-Allen.jpgA Paint & Sip event with the Highland County Chamber of Commerce will be led by Letty Allen, owner of Field of Dreams. An artist in her own right, examples of her works hang on the wall at her shop in New Vienna. Tim Colliver | The Times-Gazette